Lizzie Armitstead (Boels Dolmans) is in a very different place heading towards this year’s Olympic Games in Rio compared to her debut in London in 2012. Back then, a nervous 23-year-old had spent just one full season on the road as she prepared for London, where she surpassed expectations by winning the silver medal. In stark contrast, as she finalises her preparation for Rio, she is the reigning world champion with an impressive seven victories from 14 race days in 2016 – including her recent overall win at the Aviva Women’s Tour.
With four years of success and experience since London, Armitstead has upgraded her ambitions to the top step of the podium but tells Cyclingnews that she isn’t betting everything on gold.
“I was just a totally different rider back then,” she says. “Going into London, I was looking for a top 10 but going into Rio I want gold, and I’d be disappointed with anything else. That’s not to say that I’m pinning my career on that result because anything can happen and that’s cycling, and I don’t think that it is a healthy way to look at a goal. Those are my ambitions, and they’re very different to London.”
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Like many British riders, Armitstead began her career on the track and notched up her first world title in the team pursuit in 2009. While she signed for the Lotto-Soudal Ladies team in 2009, she continued to compete on the track until the end of 2011. Her last competitive outing on the boards reaped a national title in the scratch race.
It was only then that Armitstead put all of her efforts into the road, and she had modest expectations heading into London, where there was a little less pressure on her with the focus on Mark Cavendish in the men’s road race. Despite her relative inexperience, Armistead surprised everybody to take Britain’s first medal of the home Games. The young rider had made it away in a late break in the torrid conditions in the English capital to claim second behind Marianne Vos.
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